Chapter 002: It Was Me Who Secretly Ate the McDonald's.

Old Madam Qin did not like the eldest daughter-in-law, but she was a relatively fair person. Frowning, she said, "The eldest daughter-in-law is not someone with sticky fingers. Could there be some misunderstanding?"

Qin Hongfei’s eyes reddened with emotion, and she thanked her, "Thank you, Grandma, for speaking up for us."

A flash of dissatisfaction flickered in Aunt Qin’s eyes as she stood up, agitated. "Just because she hasn’t done it before doesn’t mean she wouldn’t do it now! All these years, everyone’s seen what she’s been up to—what difference is there between her and a lunatic?"

Qin Fei finally couldn’t stand it anymore and retorted, "You’re not allowed to talk about my mother that way! My mother is not crazy!"

The children from the fifth branch also stood up, and the two sides were now in a standoff.

Qin Hongfei understood very well that they had to get to the bottom of this today. If they couldn’t clear the eldest branch’s name, the stain would be stuck to them, and the money couldn’t have just disappeared for no reason. Suddenly, her gaze landed on the fifth branch’s boy, who looked guilty and was trying to avoid attention. A thought stirred in her heart.

"Auntie, you say the money was stolen, but you have no proof it was my mother. Isn’t it just as likely that one of your own children took it?"

"That’s nonsense!" Aunt Qin refused to believe her own child could be a thief.

"If you didn’t make a mistake, the money couldn’t have disappeared on its own..." Qin Hongfei said firmly. "It’s not hard to figure out. Just tell me exactly how the money went missing!"

"It was taken from a drawer!" Aunt Qin thought, I'll tell you and see how you defend yourself, already convinced the eldest branch was to blame. "That hundred yuan was the payment Wanwan received for filming this month. I counted it and handed the key to Xiaonian. Two days later, when I checked, the lock was broken and a hundred was gone. I already asked my own children—they wouldn’t steal from their own family!"

"Xiaonian said..."

"The other day after school, he saw your mother coming out of our house! If it wasn’t your mother, who else could it have been?!"

Qin Hongfei’s eyes locked onto Xiaonian, who was clearly nervous. He was about fifteen, but very thin. The fifth branch favored daughters over sons; all the good food and care went to their daughter, Wanwan, and everyone in the family deferred to her.

"I want to ask Xiaonian a few questions," Qin Hongfei said, not bothering to seek Aunt Qin’s approval. She went on, "Xiaonian, you said you saw my mother coming out of your house after school, right? Was the door locked or unlocked at the time?"

"L-locked," Xiaonian stammered.

"Locked? Then how could you be sure my mother was inside? Are you sure it was locked?" Qin Hongfei pressed, her tone harsher.

"Then…then maybe I remembered wrong, maybe it wasn’t locked," Xiaonian replied anxiously. "But I definitely saw her!"

"You’re lying! At the time you get home from school, my mother is always at the shop. It takes her half an hour to walk home from there..." Qin Hongfei sneered. "Anyone can go ask around near the shop and find out. I think there’s a thief in your house. Let’s just call the police and let them handle it—once they come, it’ll be clear who took the money!"

She made as if to call the police.

Xiaonian’s eyes widened in panic as he stammered, "No, no, I might have gotten it wrong, maybe I mistook someone else for Auntie..."

Now the adults in the family sensed something was off. His story was full of holes—he was obviously lying.

Holding the phone, Qin Hongfei said, "I’ll give you one more chance. Are you sure you won’t tell the truth? It’s just a hundred yuan—you’re not poor, you can afford it. But if you keep lying and cause my family to be wrongly accused..."

Her expression darkened.

"Waah!" Xiaonian finally bit his lip and admitted, "It was me. I stole it to buy McDonald’s."